Felons clogging system: Prosecutor says drug cases, B&Es on the rise

LIVINGSTON TWP. - At the rate things are going, the Otsego County Prosecutor's office is on pace to almost double its felony offense caseload, from 298 in 2000 to an estimated 550 for this year.

Although the overall population in the county has not doubled in the past four years, prosecutor Kevin Hesselink said local population growth has played a factor in the steady increase in the number of individual felony cases his office is working on. "I think there is just more of everything in the county, including felony arrests," he said.

While felony cases are on the rise, Hesselink said caseload statistics show misdemeanor and juvenile cases have been relatively constant since 2000. For the past four years, misdemeanor cases have averaged around 1,000 and juvenile cases around 250 per year. He initially shared the information with Otsego County Commissioners as he lobbied May 25 for raises for his assistants.

Advertisement

Hesselink cited the work of the Straits Area Narcotics Enforcement (SANE) team as a factor in his office seeing more felony drug offenses.

"I think SANE is doing a good job of getting more drug cases which is going to add to more felony cases," Hesselink said.

Hesselink said drug cases and breakings and enterings typically top the list of felony offenses in the county.

"There hasn't been a large spike in any one category," he noted. "We are seeing more violence and disrespect for law enforcement. Everyone seems to be resisting arrest lately; those numbers are up and add to the number of felonies. Our county as a whole is good at respect but there are those at the fringe we need to bring back into the fold."

Criminal sexual conduct cases also make up a significant number of the cases the prosecutor's office handles each year. "We see between 40 and 50 a year and these are the cases which take more time to prepare for and prosecute," Hesselink said.

Besides adding to the prosecutor's office caseload, an increase in felony cases puts an additional burden of time and money on most aspects of the legal system. "There is a huge cost to the county," Hesselink said. "It can easily be seen in the problem we currently have with jail overcrowding."

There have been numerous times in the past year that the Otsego County Jail has declared a jail-overcrowding emergency - the most recent this past January.

"I think we're seeing more people who are not serving their whole sentence because of overcrowding," Hesselink said of the overcrowding issue. In the event of overcrowding emergencies, early release of inmates may be used to bring the jail population down to its legal capacity.

"What we get is a revolving-door syndrome and we are getting closer and closer to having violent offenders not spending their whole time in jail. It sends the wrong message when someone doesn't serve their whole sentence," said Hesselink of the problem.

While felony numbers are steadily rising, Hesselink said the community continues to address the problems associated with that increase. "We try to address substance abuse problems early on with programs like D.A.R.E. and OPEN, which we are involved with."

He continued by saying society as a whole needs to address those issues, which contribute to criminal activity. "I think the system is doing what we can and it's up to society to respond. I think the attitude toward drinking and driving is a good example. In general, the numbers are down because it's now seen as an unacceptable behavior by the majority of society."